The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3) by Lemony Snicket; illustrations by Bret Helquist

HarperCollins, 2000. 978-0064407687

Synopsis: The Baudelaires are sent to live with their Aunt Josephine, who despite living in a house perched on the edge of a cliff over a lake filled with man-eating leeches, is afraid of almost everything. When the children once again spot Count Olaf in disguise, will they be able to convince their guardian and Mr. Poe that they are in danger?

Why I picked it up: I seem to have a strange need to keep going despite the fact that there doesn’t seem to be an end to the misery.

Why I finished it: Well, being as the series is called A Series of Unfortunate Events, it is definitely living up to its name, so it really shouldn’t surprise me that things are getting progressively worse for Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. It is also becoming apparent that their chosen guardians are becoming progressively inepter – another thing that happens in children’s literature, but still, the misery is perhaps being laid on a little thick? Violet, Klaus, and Sunny seem to still be keeping their wits and gaining new skills that are helpful in keeping them alive and out of Count Olaf’s hands, yet we continue to have the formulaic problem of the adults around them being relatively naïve and a comedy of errors ensuing before a lightbulb goes on. Despite all of this, Snicket has found a way to entice us with yet another misadventure. I thought it was clever the way Aunt Josephine and the children evade Count Olaf/Captain Sham. I also enjoyed the amusing anecdote with Captain Sham’s business card and how Aunt Josephine’s love of grammar is both a blessing and a curse. Like the other two books, it’s a definitely a nail biter that will have the reader on the edge of their seat.

Other related materials: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 4) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Austere Acedemy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 5) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 6) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 7) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 8) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 9) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 10) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist; The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket; illustrations by Brett Helquist; Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Lemony Snicket; All The Wrong Questions series by Lemony Snicket; The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket; illustrations by Caron Ellis, music by Nathaniel Stookey; The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Carson Ellis